‘Positive disrupter’ on ‘Perry & the Posse’

That was the advice of Keli‘i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, speaking Friday, June 21, with popular radio host Michael W. Perry about Honolulu County’s short-term vacation rental policies.

“People have a right to earn a little bit of extra income by renting out their extra bedroom,” Akina said, “and that’s so crucial in this economy. I think the key thing for us is to balance that with the problem of crime and noise pollution and trash that we have to manage.”

Perry has invited Akina onto his No. 1 morning radio show, “Perry & the Posse,” several times in recent months, introducing him on this latest occasion as one of the state’s “positive disrupters — because he actually makes sense.”

He appeared on the program just days before Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed a measure severely limiting the number of STRs in Honolulu and imposing harsh penalties on the owners of all found to be operating illegally.